Chapter 2

Author's Notes:

Thanks for sticking with me on this story. I appreciate it. And, I am sorry for the bumps in Chapter 1. To tell you the truth, I do not have a beta reader at the moment, leaving me to try and edit the hell out of each chapter (aka sit at Starbucks, typing with lots of anguish while drinking chai tea). I am also regularly going back and re-editing previous episodes that were edited many times.

Buuuut, If you love to be a beta for this story, I will loooooooooooooove it! Just PM me!

I want to shout out to DenisefromNY and marylovesbatb for reviewing the first chapter. To answer your review marylovesbatb, is it ok if I put one love triangle in this story? You will understand a little by the end of the chapter (and hopefully much more as the story progresses). I don't like love triangles either as they drag some of the story arcs toooooo much. But, bear with me!

Thanks again.

Previously on Indomitable Hope

A special news report flashed on the TV. "Good afternoon, New York. We have a breaking report here at the news office. Last night around 2 am, an unidentified person or thing murdered a homeless man in Brooklyn. There are not many details at this moment. But, we do know that there were brutal claw marks all over the victim's body, suggesting that some animal might have mauled the victim. New York Police warns all citizens to be vigilant as there might be a wild animal out there. We will have more information as the details come in. Meanwhile, back to the game."

J.T. quickly turned off the TV as both him and Tess look at each other, mortified.

"Vincent..."

"...I'm sure of it!" J.T. exclaimed as he stood up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen area. Tess' eyes grew bigger as she focused her attention on him, asking, "Are you for certain that it's him?" J.T paced furiously around Tess' kitchen, trying to process the facts about the murder mentioned in the news bulletin. ""Are you for certain that it's him?"," J.T mimicked irately, "What part of "sure" that you don't get? I get it perfectly; the part where the claw marks are labeled "brutal" by the news. That is how I am so sure." J.T stopped pacing and leaned against the countertop, covering his eyes as he felt emotionally overwhelmed.

He knew that it was his best friend. It couldn't have been the other beast he knew, ADA Gabriel Logan. J.T. had a feeling that Gabe still knew how to control his animal side even though he was unsuccessful in getting the ultimate cure for it: Vincent's heart. All throughout his life, Gabe was able to control himself by using a synthesized version of an antidote that was initially made by Catherine's mom, Dr. Catherine Chadler, that had great success. J.T. knew that Gabe wasn't the type of person to just forgot to take his meds. Or at least, the kind of beast to randomly beast out for no reason. Gabe had to be responsible; he was one of the many faces of NYPD judicial system, a reputation he couldn't tarnish by a random killing. No, J.T. thought, it wasn't Gabe for sure. Unless.

"I thought they wanted to kill him," Tess questioned as she sat down on a bar stool, expressing a worried look. That was the original reason why J.T. and Vincent were in hiding, to protect Vincent from Muirfield who wanted to eliminate him. During his deployment days in Afghanistan, Vincent witnessed one of his best friends in the unit and another beast like him murdered by one of the generals, who Vincent suspected was an agent for Muirfield, being involved with the troop to keep track of these experiments. After seeing this horrendous incident, Vincent decided to run, run far away from the terror that his new life caused. And, he did. Vincent was able to escape unscathed and unseen during an ambush on a Taliban cartel hiding out in the mountains, never looking back once at the life Vincent once led. He also was able to plant evidence that made everyone, including his beloved family, that he died in the war. The deception was a success according to J.T who Vincent communicated to on a stolen satellite phone during his exodus back to the States.

It was a risky gamble, J.T. thought as he listened to Tess grill him about his hunches, but it worked out well. However, if they captured him three months ago, that meant he should be dead. If that's not the case, then what do they want to do it. Do they want...

"NO! They wanted him so they could continue testing." J.T. blurted out abruptly, catching Tess off guard. "We didn't think about the other possibilities. What if Muirfield didn't want to kill him. Instead, they wanted him to do further tests on him. Remember, Vincent was a beta type for superhuman soldiers for the military. The whole science experiment was labeled as a complete failure, according to military records, as Muirfield "eradicated" all those who were involved over the years. But also, during those years, Muirfield probably regrouped, reexamine, and retested their failed project to see if they could be successful. Muirfield used random people in these new experiments, but they weren't as great as Vincent. So now that they got him, they can use him for tests. It looks like it was successful if one of these experiments is to see how his new superhuman abilities affect normal humans," J.T. explained as he mentally ran through any other possibilities.

"That's absurd if Muirfield is transforming Vincent into a super-killing machine and unleashing him freely in the city. He could hurt anyone, everyone! This is going to be colossal gossip tomorrow at work. Just wait, there will be yet another task force on Vincent. Is this what Muirfield or even us want?" Tess sighed, standing up to get a wine glass and poured some of her favorite red wine. She sat back down and lightly slipped her glass while staring at J.T., pondering what would he say next. She didn't want to face the problem at work, especially with Catherine around. Oh no! Catherine! She couldn't get Cat involved. It was breaking Tess' heart, thinking about how Catherine would take it if this new serial killer were Vincent. She couldn't bear it.

"That or he accidentally escaped. Maybe Vincent isn't completely animal just yet, maybe there is some part of humanity left in him to make him come to his senses and escape from that hellhole," J.T countered Tess' thoughts as he sipped the warm beer that he was enjoying during the hockey match, "In any case, we CANNOT, by any means, have Catherine know about these attacks. You have to keep her mind occupied on some other cases while this one plays out. We can't have her getting involved; she might get hurt or even get killed by this new and improved Vincent." Tess smiled at him as she scooted closer to him, "That is what I was thinking, buster. See, we work well together. Too well." Tess gingerly kissed J.T., hoping a happy ever after could come to everyone involved.

Ahhhh, Monday mornings, why do they ever exist, Catherine thought after she awoke from her bothersome mobile phone alarm. She squinted her eyes to see the time on her phone; I must have slept most of the day yesterday and all night. I needed the sleep anyways, I been working non-stop, trying to find Vincent that I forgot I have to sleep sometimes. She yawned as she stretched and got up from her bed to head to the bathroom. After taking a long shower to awake her senses from their deep slumber, Catherine got ready for work by wearing a pair of black slacks, a simple white blouse, and minimal jewelry and makeup. Although she thought her appearance was very dull, she wondered what Vincent would think about it? What would he say when he looked at her? Would he say something along the lines of how beautiful she listened to him even her opinions were different?

Cat sighed at the thoughts as she stopped at her sister's bedroom. She peeked in quietly and saw that Heather was sleeping peacefully in her bed. Catherine smiled, questioning if she is abandoning her sister again by being preoccupied with the search. Heather usually showed how Heather felt and thought to Catherine, especially when Heather felt her bigger sister was hiding something or abandoning her. She almost was successful in moving out of Cat's apartment once before. It was during a time when Heather questioned if Catherine cared for her during a time when Cat's attention was focused more on Vincent's predicament. Cat vowed at that moment that she should care for her more as they only had each other now, someone who was too precious to lose.

Maybe I will talk about it with her tonight, Catherine pondered as she locked her apartment door and started her journey to work. So much has happened with her family this year, from the happiness of her so-called dad's wedding to the pain of losing him in a freak accident on a busy intersection in Time Squares. She felt it was her fault that he got murdered as he wanted to tell her something, risking everything for her and her curiosity. He always risked so much for her. Even now that she found out through a blood test that she wasn't also his daughter! How could that happen? How could the man she always grew up with, be supported by, and loved by was genetically not her father? What kind of life did her mom lead to cause so many mysterious holes in her life? Because of her mom, Cat recently felt that she was so helpless in helping to save her father because her blood was worthless to him. Was she also worthless to her mom?

She arrived at her workplace a little while after, briefly stopping at the Starbucks next to her office's building to get a Chai Latte and some pastries. Cat filed into one of the elevators with other employees, wholly absorbed in her morning thoughts that she didn't notice her partner standing next to her. "Good Morning, Cat. You look refreshed. It looks like you got a ton of beauty sleep yesterday," Tess greeted her, "It looks like you don't need a Monday morning pickup as I can see that you went to Starbucks already. I wonder who I can share double-shot lattes and doughnuts with? Maybe Frank wants some..." Catherine smirked, Ewww, anyone but Frank, Cat, though, with a bit of annoyance, that bumbling newbie turned nerdy stalker who transferred from Precinct 54 and tried to flirt with me so many times. Cat wished he took the subtle hint that she and Tess were trying to give him and give up. "It's your choice, Manslayer," Cat joked, calling Tess by her least favorite nickname that was given by that Justin Bieber wannabe pop star she had protected last year, while taking a sip of her chai latte, "But, don't come crying when he is running after you." Tess rolled her eyes as they reached their department's floor.

Tess, Cat, and some other colleagues walked out from the elevator and towards their desks. Something looked strange today as there was an unusual amount of people sitting around the office. "Hey, Lisa, what is going on?" Tess questioned the young woman who sat in the island of desks near Cat's and Tess' desks. "It looks like they are going to name a new commanding officer for this department. I heard Joe got sacked and that ADA Gabe Lowen is aiming to replace him," Lisa bellowed in gossip-like excitement. Did Joe get sacked? Tess silently surmised as she felt a small amount of pity for her ex-lover. She and Joe barely spoke to each other after the events of his younger brother's mysterious murder. They both grew apart from each other as Joe started to learn more about his wife, the woman who he claimed that was never there for him. How ironic! She mentally laughed. What made it odder was that the maniac manhunt for the so-called serial killer made Joe more obsessed with his work and less willing to work with others, after locking himself in his office for hours.

Tess shrugged off any other thoughts of Joe as she took her seat. Joe was in her past and was long gone. She needed to focus on the future, especially the one with J.T. She blushed at the thoughts of a possible future with J.T. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice that Cat was looking at her, grinning. "It looks like someone didn't wake up from their weekend fantasies? Did you enjoy your dinner with Mr. Romeo last night?" Cat playfully laughed as she briskly looked through the documents on her desk. Tess snapped out her daydream, "Huh, what? Oh, that dinner? We decided to get a raincheck for a different time. We had something come up unexpectedly last night." Cat just continued to laugh at Tess as the buzzing office began to quiet down.

"May I have your attention for a couple of minutes," a charismatic voice from the center of the office bellowed. Tess and Cat looked up at the same time to see who was its owner. They noticed that the one who was trying to get everyone's attention was a male with slick, curly black hair, dark olive-colored skin, and excellent choice of style. It was none other as the other beast in this twisted tale, ADA Gabe Lowen. "As many as you all know through the grapevine, Joe Bishop has been relieved of his duties as commanding officer at this precinct," Gabe announced as a collective gasp of surprise was heard throughout the room, "Despite the rumors that are going around, I will not be the new commanding officer. Instead, I have asked Brian McIntyre, one the supervising commanders at Precinct 86 to lead this one. Officer McIntyre, do you have any welcoming comments for your commanding precinct?"

A slender and somewhat tall man with a long face and salt and pepper hair stood up from the side and came up next to Gabe. "Good morning. As Gabe mentioned, I am your new commanding officer here. I had heard of the strong legacy of this precinct with its powerful teamwork and amazing ability to solve tough cases when I was working at Precinct 86. Hopefully, we can continue this strong reputation," He welcomed with a warm smile, focusing his attention on Cat and Tess. Vergas and Chandler, he mused silently, I have heard of them before and their capability in solving certain inexplicable cases. Admittedly, they can leave me to him quickly.

"Thank you for your kind words, Commanding Officer McIntyre. Before I let you all commence on your duties, I would like to see Tess Vergas, Lisa Reyes, Luke Conrad, and Frank Downer in my office on the fourth floor right now," Gabe smiled as he concluded the Monday morning office huddle. Tess gave Catherine a puzzled looked and whispered, "I wonder what he wants from Luke, Lisa, Frank, and I?" Catherine shrugged at her comment, clueless too. "I don't know either," Catherine commented, "But you better get your butt over there pronto so you can find out." Tess grabbed her warm drink and headed towards the direction of Gabe.

"Thank you for coming to my office," Gabe greeted the four detectives with a big grin, "Please sit down. I have chosen you four to work on a special top secret case. If you watched the news yesterday, there was a report of a homeless man who was mauled by some animal with deep claw marks on his chest. Now, this attack happened near Precinct 24, and they should be handling this case by themselves. But, since this precinct has handled cases of the beast-like serial killer that roamed around New York last spring, Precinct 24 has asked for your guys' help. Your new commanding officer and I have mutually agreed to take on the case as we know that you guys are capable of successfully solving the case. However, as I mentioned before, this a top-secret case as no one can know any details of this case. McIntyre and I want to keep a hush on this case because we don't want it to get out of hand like the serial killer one. Do you have any questions or concerns on this case?" Tess and the other silently shook their heads. Gab flashed a smile as he continued, "Good. I have designated an office space on the third floor as space to investigate, You all will be given a key card as the room is only for those with authorized access. If you break any rules during the investigation, you will be removed from the case and suspended without pay from your duties until further notice." That is a significant punishment, Tess mused as Gabe continued to list the details of the investigation, I wonder why he is making it into the highly classified case?

"If no one has any questions, I will give you a keycard and let you go on your way. I want a daily briefing of the matter before you all go home. I will pop my head later to check how everything is going. With your teamwork and abilities, we can nab this new serial killer quickly before more harm falls upon innocent people," Gabe concluded as he started to hand out the key cards. When he reached Tess, he held onto the key card a little longer and whispered, "Vergas, I need you to stay here for a bit longer." "Oooookaaayyyy," she conceded. He flashed his brilliant smile once again as he turned to the others, "You guys are dismissed. I will see you later!" Lisa, Frank, and Luke all filed out of the office quickly as Gabe closed the door behind him.

"Detective Vergas, I picked you for this case for a particular reason; your connection to Catherine Chandler and her beast boyfriend," Gabe began to speak as he took a seat at his desk. "What? How did you know that?" Tess instantly questioned him. Gabe put his hand up to motion for Tess to stop talking as he continued, "Please let me finish before you start questioning on what I know. I suspected that you would do your investigation on the matter because you care about Catherine and would do anything for her to keep her safe and happy.

You are wondering how I know that you and Catherine are related to the beast incidents. I am the partial reason why Vincent kidnapped by Muirfield three months ago. I kidnapped Catherine so I could lure Vincent to my place so I could get his heart, the cure to my other wrenched half. Like Vincent, I am too a beast, created long before Vincent when I was a mere child. To subdue the beast side, I had to take a synthesized version of a drug that Catherine's mom created for me every day. But, since last March, the manufactured drugs unexpectedly stopped taking effect, and I began to change into a beast occasionally. When my now-dead girlfriend, who was also a secret operative of Muirfield, caught wind from your precinct's now deceased medical examiner Evan Marks of a possible beast, she told me, and I volunteer to co-lead the manhunt for the beast with Joe Bishop. You might think that the manhunt was based primarily on Joe's vengeful revenge for his brother. But, it was also partially based on my mission to bring the beast into my hands so I could get his heart. I didn't mean things to get really out of hand as I just wanted to get rid of being a beast, the painfully reminded of why I couldn't live a regular life even if I tried hard.

But, I am not here to ask for your or even Catherine's forgiveness for the incident. Thanks to Catherine's kindness, compassion, and showing me that I wasn't the troubled monster I made myself led to believe. I feel remorseful for what happened to Vincent. So, I created this secret task force to make it up to Catherine and catch Vincent secretly, unlike the last time. No press, no mad motives this time, I swear! I hope that with you, I could get more detailed on the whereabouts of Vincent so we can bring himself safely from Muirfield."

Tess slouched in her chair, resting her head on the palm of her right head as she tried to process the shocking revelation that Gabe was a beast who was partially behind the chaos of last spring. This is too much to handle right now, Tess groaned as she closed her eyes to think it through. Did J.T. and Cat knew that Gabe was a beast like Vincent? How come they didn't let her onto this little detail? Why couldn't they trust her a little bit more? She was part of their inner circle of trust, wasn't she? She had too many questions that were dying to be answered. But, she had to wait until later. She couldn't let Gabe know what she was thinking right now as he was one of many responsible for Cat's pain right now.

Tess detangled her thoughts a little bit longer. She opened her eyes a few minutes later and looked at Gabe with emotionally tired eyes. "Look, this is a lot of information to process all at once. I might have questions, but right now, we need to work together to bring Vincent back from Muirfield's hands. Despite what happened over last spring, I will agree to work with you and your task force to bring Vincent back, for Cat's sake. But, if you turn your back on us, your promises, and your pure intentions, I will never forgive you for what happened between Cat and Vincent." Gabe smiled, "Agreed." He extended his hand out towards her, hoping that she could shake on the deal. Tess took his hand and shook it reluctantly.

When they finished shaking hands, a woman officer with brown hair that was pulled back in a bun suddenly came into the room. "I am sorry to interrupt, sir. But there was report over the radio this morning from Precinct 44 that there was another beast attack on the border of Riverside Park. They request that the special task force come as soon as possible to the crime scene," she informed Gabe. Gabe expressed a worried look on his face while he instinctively took his coat from its hook and commanded, "Vergas, gather Reyes, Downer, and Conrad and meet me at the location right away. I will text you the location once I call Precinct 44 for more details. Officer Hogan, I want you to keep me updated on any details about these unique cases, you got it?" Vargas and the petite, mid-30s officer nodded. "Good. See you soon, Vargas," the slicked hair ADA sighed as he started to dial the number to Precinct 44.

What did they do to you, Vincent?